I took the Durian called Polo to the hangar and the Swift. Frig met us at the doorway and we followed him up into the hold of our Defender. Polo began to ask questions, "I do not believe I recognize this style of vessel. It has an interesting coating on the outside. May I inquire as to its makeup?"
I stopped and looked at the Durian. "We are not in the business of trading our technology Mr. Polo. Please focus your energy of the purpose of this visit." I popped open the large lid of the container we had sitting in our hold, it contained Emeralds and Sapphires. The Durain pulled a device from his cloak. "Whoa, whoa, whoa... Before you turn that on in here I need to know what it is."
The Durian turned the interface of the item in my direction. "It will merely scan the content of the container and return an approximation of the contents. You may monitor your sensors to see if the monitor wave has returned from external sources or not. Please do not take it as a sign of disrespect."
I nodded for the Durian to continue. Several seconds later he looked at his device and responded. "I believe we will be able offer technology for trade Mr. Bumbalee. The cargo you have is full and is of high quality. We shall go to Mr. Bantoo, please follow me."
We stepped out of the Swift and Frig immediately began work to move the ship to another hangar. I trusted the Durians because they made trade their business. I did not trust anyone else on Marcon. If word were to leak of the treasure we had on-board I would expect no good to come of it. Our single cargo would make any one man rich beyond their wildest dreams.
The Durian took a different route on the way to see Konra Bantoo. The meeting was in another shop in a different section of the Marcon port. I was led into a dark room and seated at a table. A holographic video soon showed in front of me. It was a Durian ship, similar to the one I had been aboard several years before.
Bantoo began to describe a shield technology that would reduce a 50 mega joule ion cannon shot by 30% or more. The technology was behind that which we already possessed. I feigned interest and let Bantoo continue so as not to give our capabilities away.
He next moved on to an ion cannon that offered a 25% increase in power throughput with a 10% reduction in energy used. At that moment I was wishing that I had brought Gy or Rita along for a more in depth technical evaluation, but it was something that the Durians would not have allowed. Their word was their bond and they would not allow validation of any technology as it would only lead to that technology being stolen rather than paid for.
The next item was the one that got my attention. It was an antenna array that was somehow able to project an image in every direction of what lay just on the other side of a ship. It had one drawback, in order for the image projection to be effective, the ship had to be moving at a constant speed in a constant direction. It was perfect for a head-on assault, but useless once in battle. I attempted to act only mildly interested.
Bantoo continued with various other enhancements such as the ion engine update that I had been sold so many years before. The version he offered was not quite as advanced as ours, but I thought it was interesting none the less.
When Bantoo completed his presentation we got down to the negotiation on the price of the items I was interested in. We ended with a deal on the image projection technology and an enhanced hand-held blaster weapon. In exchange for the technologies the Durian would take possession of the cargo in the hold of the Swift.
It was hardly a fair trade, but I had hopes of future dealings with Bantoo. I told him we had much available for trade should he bring forward other technologies that we deemed significant. We agreed on a drop for the payment and the technical diagrams and then parted ways. Once the drop was completed we left immediately for home.
"Sir, we did have an incident that I was not sure of how to handle. The sensors caught one of the hangar workers placing a device on our hull. It is nearly undetectable and would be so to most engineers. I ran three counter-cross sweeps for signals and was just able to pick this one out. It is very advanced. I would venture to say that the Durians are attempting to track us home."
"After detecting that a stray, although minute, signal was there, I was able to isolate it to its location on the underside of the port wing. I took no action as I was waiting for your thoughts on what to do."
I sat in my chair and punched in the coordinates for home. I then contacted the port control officer and arranged for our departure. Once away from Marcon, I set course towards the Fasture nebula. I turned towards Frig with a smile. "I think the Durian device is going to malfunction in the nebula. They can track us in there all they want, but they won't be able to track us out."
Frig had a concerned look on his face. "I'm not sure what going in there will accomplish. I would have to believe the device is shielded from something as simple and common as negative ions Sir. Perhaps you are not telling me the whole plan."
Frig had been around me long enough to know when I was leaving out important facts. I pursed my lips and nodded, "Indeed there is more. I am going to override our safety protocols and send a heavy ion pulse from our own cannon into that wing."
Frig looked puzzled, "Your plan is to shoot us, what part am I still missing Sir?" Again my smile returned. "You are missing the part where our Aquamarine skin fractures and sloughs off, thereby eliminating the Durian device with it. If the device happens to survive the blast and if the Durians somehow manage to find it, the last thing it would have recorded was our ship being destroyed."
Frig attempted to find fault with the plan, but there was none to be found. Shortly after entering the Fasture, I fired a heavy negative ion pulse into our port wing. As designed, the outer Aquamarine skin that Gy had applied fractured and disintegrated in an instant. Frig followed with multiple cross-counter sweeps of our hull and no Durian signal was found to remain. The remainder of our trip home was uneventful.
When we arrived back at the Suppressor I turned the plans over to Gy and Rita. They would work on updating the Wren while we scouted the Pollus sector. If the Milgari were planning any new attacks it was in our best interest to know. Before leaving I made my way over to talk to George.
"Don. I wanted to run something by you. I have been in conversations with several of the lesser worlds in this sector. They are becoming increasingly alarmed at what they consider the growing Milgari threat. Even with the recent lull in activity, they are fearful of what may come."
"I have been thinking about how we might be able to make use of their resources. Between them there are three more automated docks and they certainly have the manpower to perform any construction tasks that we might have. Our ships have components that are not high security items such as the bulk of the inner plating, the environmental systems and most of the wiring and what not."
"We might be able to greatly speed ship production by giving them contracts. At the same time, it would not hurt to have alliances with other worlds as our secret existence is bound to become known soon. Your Durian friends are sure to be sending ships to every corner of this sector. They do not like being in the dark about anyone or anything."
I gave George my blessing to broach the subject before our Council of Governance. He immediately got to work on what he would suggest. I returned to my office for a few minutes rest.
As I stood looking down at the clouds over Jarhead, Frig walked into the room. "I believe we are about ready to depart Sir. Gy wanted to get started on immediate updates to the Swift. I thought we might co-opt the Hammer from Barg and give him a holiday from the possible hostilities. I have Jarrod loading it into the hull of the Helix as we speak."
I continued my gaze down towards our planet. "It might be strange going out and not being in the Swift. She has saved our hides more than once. I'm sure you have taken the time to load all of your own software on her, and our gear." Frig replied, "Yes Sir I have. Other than the few cosmetic updates that Barg has made to the interior, we should be right at home."
An hour later our parade of Raiders lifted off from the docks alongside the Suppressor. Our journey would take 16 days after which we would divide into teams for gathering as much data on the Milgari ship movements as we could. I looked forward to the thrill of watching our enemy from an unseen location nearby. Milly would be joining us in the Frost for our run to the Teldaki home-world. I hoped for a full accounting of the fleet the Milgari had positioned there.
I sat in the mess hall with Jarrod, talking over a cup of coffee. I wondered if it at all tasted like that which was listed in the archives. Our coffee came from a plant with a bean shaped seed. It had no natural caffeine so some prior genius had seen to it that it was blended with a plant that grew on the Grid that did. The result was the coffee that I knew and loved.
Jarrod spoke, "Don, where do you think we will be in two years, or even five? I've been thinking, that if we continue to progress like we have been, we will be able to push the Torrians back far enough that they will decide to just leave us alone. And it's kind of a scary thought as I don't know what I would do with myself if that time comes."
I toyed with the handle on my mug, "The possibilities will be wide open then. Start a business, retire and hunt wild beasts on uninhabited planets, hang out with my friends and shoot the breeze or just do nothing. It won't matter when the time comes because whatever we are doing we won't likely be under the constant threat of death. Sometime I think it would just be nice to "be", you know, to just have a simple existence."
Jarrod sat back in his chair and looked up towards the ceiling, "Hmm. Do nothing... I kind of like the sound of that. I've been doing something for somebody ever since I was a kid. It might be nice to just do nothing for a while. Although, I suppose I might get tired of that too at some point. I guess there's just no pleasing some of us."
I had a number of similar conversations with Jarrod on the way out to the Pollus sector. In one such conversation I had asked him if he would like to be President of Defiant. He declined. When we arrived in the Pollus sector I thanked him for the ride and then boarded the Hammer.
It had been a long while since Frig had been aboard the Hammer and the interior décor was nothing like he remembered. "Sir, this is unusual. I didn't know our Barg had such bizarre tastes. All these mirrors... it is a little unsettling Sir."
I sat in the captain's chair as I powered on the generators. "Well, you picked it so you get to live with it until we get back." I looked around at the walls behind us. "I think it adds the appearance of space, makes the place feel bigger. You know, some people have a big problem with the confined space after a while. This might be his way of coping with it. Or, maybe he just likes to look at himself." I chuckled.
Frig shuddered, "It is bothersome to me Sir. I am going to jump every time I turn around thinking someone else is aboard with us. You might not think it so funny if I pull my blaster and blow a hole in our cargo door. I sometimes react before I think."
I looked at Frig with my forehead down. "React before you think? You are about the coolest, calmest person I know. I'm the one you should worry about. If I looked up and saw Rex Bumbalee standing there I might try to shoot him. I still get freaked out a little when I look in a mirror on occasion. Maybe one day I'll have George change my face back to what it was. He might try to talk me out of it, but sometimes I just want to be me again."
We lifted out of the cargo hold of the Helix and set a course for Mortel. It was a four day journey during which time we practiced utilizing the ship's systems. Every ship would have its own little quirks and it was necessary to know those quirks before going into battle. By the time we arrived at Mortel we were fully familiar with the subtle differences of the Hammer.
I ordered the Frost to stop at a distance of a light-year away. They would observe from afar as we moved in close. We would stop at a safe distance and scan the system for the information that we desired. Leaving the Frost was an unusual move on my part, but I could feel in my bones that today it was something that should be done. We moved in to our closer position.
"I see three pickets Sir. If they come this way we will have to abandon this position within the hour. The sensor array is on full and I can complete a deep scan before we must leave. From the initial numbers it looks as though there is still an impressive fleet guarding Mortel. Wait... I am picking up a new ship Sir. It is not listed in our database. And it has Durian markings. It is also larger than any Durian ship we have seen in the past."
I pulled up the data on my console, "Wow. That's an odd one. What do you make of that glass bubble that makes up the center?" As we watched, a Milgari ship pulled up beside the Durian mammoth. The glass dome began to glow a deep blue which then turned into a dark purple. A purple bolt then shot out from the Durian vessel, striking the Milgari warship on the nose and then slowly working its way back. Once complete, the Milgari ship maintained the purplish glow for several minutes before it pulled away.
"Frig, I do not like the looks of that. My guess is the Durians are performing some type of treatment on that ship that I can only guess will make it harder to kill. I'm now a little ticked that they didn't offer it to us. If that is a new shield enhancement then we are in trouble."
I leaned back in my chair with a sigh, "Why is it that every time we get a little edge they come up with something new. What we need is a way to track that Durian ship back to their home-world. It might be nice to put a little fear in them so they back out of this conflict. If they keep feeding the Milgari new weapons and shields we are never going to be rid of them."
Frig pulled up his console and began to type. He then signaled for me to read what he had written.
Sir. I believe they know we are here and they may be cloaked just behind us. I'm detecting a tiny laser signature on our hull. It is the type used for listening to conversations. The vibrations from our voices can be extracted from vibrations of our hull.
I leaned over to type on Frig's keyboard. He pushed my hand away and pointed towards my own. I typed in a response,
If they are parked right behind us then we need to move away slowly. We need a planet or a star that we can slingshot around in an attempt to lose them. If it is a Durian, which I would believe it is, we may have a tough time getting away.
Frig nodded in agreement and a slow course was set for the farthest planet in the Mortel system. "I say we move over behind that last planet and continue our spying from there!" Frig looked at me and rolled his eyes. He again typed on his keyboard.
Sir. Try not to be so obvious. If they suspect that we know they are there they will make a move before we have a chance to act. It might be best if you not talk Sir, especially if you feel like you have to... how do you say it? Ham it up?
As always Frig was right. All we needed to do was show whoever it was that was watching us that we were taking what would appear to be normal actions. I had not acted since my eighth year of elementary education. My talent for it was horrendous with my performance bringing about both laughter and boos. It was a harsh age to learn that you could not act. It was even worse when that lesson was learned in front of your entire school.
We moved in closer to the Mortel system and took up a position on the back side of the planet. Frig took the opportunity to do another deep scan of the Durian ship. It was unlikely that we would have another opportunity to get as close as we were. I moved the Hammer down close to the planet's surface and then sped up as we moved around towards the front.
Our risk of detection from that distance was low but if what Frig had detected was true, our position was already known. As soon as our sensors indicated the loss of the laser signal I pushed the throttle to full. I used the planet's gravity to accelerate and when at three quarters distance around her I pulled up hard on the stick.
As we raced away from the planet the laser signature returned. It was soon followed by an immense ion blast. Gy's new Aquamarine skin absorbed the first several shots with ease as a Durian ship uncloaked and began its pursuit. I began to smile as the Hammer accelerated towards light-speed. The smile quickly faded when another Durian ship uncloaked in front of us with its ion cannon firing.
"Whoa! What the..." I pushed the stick hard to port, narrowly missing the skybridge of the sleek, black Durian ship. Frig switched our cannon to negative ions and began to blast a nasty scar down the side of the Durian vessel. Explosions rocketed from the damage sending debris directly into our path.
An unlucky strike by a large piece of the Durian ship cracked our Aquamarine skin. The next shot by a Durian cannon then fractured the outer Aquamarine layer, causing it to shed. "One more of those and we are done for. See if you can target that cannon!"
I placed the Hammer into a random spiral as we continued to move away from the Durians. Frig took aim and fired another negative ion bolt. It hit its target and I could not help but yell out, "Booyah! Nice shot! Try to get that other one. We need another ten seconds to freedom!"
Frig traded blows with the second Durian ship, but not before its weapon took our armor down to a single layer. The hit just penetrated the Hammer's hull around the rear cargo door. The glass from Barg's mirrors shattered and filled the cabin with tiny flying shards of death. Had we not been wearing our combat suits we would have died a death by a thousand tiny cuts.
The damage to the Hammer was extensive, but we continued to accelerate. As we passed through light-speed I sighed a sigh of relief. We had escaped. "Wow, looks like we pulled off another one. Barg is going to be pissed about these mirrors." I turned towards Frig and he was slumped over in his chair. His face-shield sat half opened.
As my jaw dropped I jumped up from my chair. "Frig, just hang in there buddy, we're gonna take care of you." I picked him up and moved him back to his bunk. I removed his helmet to reveal the damage that the glass shards had done. For whatever reason, he had not fully closed his face-shield. His face was covered with those thousand tiny cuts I had thought of only moments before. My friend was a bloody mess.
I set a course for a rendezvous with the Helix. It was scheduled to reappear at that point in three days’ time. I was in desperate need of the help of a medic. I had no training in medicine so I turned to the only thing we had available, the ships computer. Frig had an extensive database on his physiology.
After an hour of digging through page after page of diagrams I finally found a section of his medical journals that was related to cuts and abrasions.
Thoroughly clean wounds. Apply antiseptic. Bandage to promote healing and to prevent infection.
"Great. How am I supposed to clean a thousand tiny cuts when the glass shards are still embedded? You just hang in there my friend, I am going to pick every bit of that out even if I have to... well I just have to."
I leaned his head, face down, over a sink and rinsed what I could with a sprayer. I searched through the tools that were at our disposal and settled on a simple pair of tweezers. I administered a sedative in case my fumbling hands caused him to wake in more pain. I turned on the optics control on my helmet and dialed up a forward facing light. Our face-shields had the ability to perform a macro-zoom. I set it to 10X power and then leaned in to begin the task of picking the shards from Frig's face.
I worked steady at the task for four hours. My back was aching but I was not about to stop. I had done the best I could with the hope that the automated medical bay on the Helix could do the rest. I was terrified that it might have impacted his eyes. Even in the best of hospitals with the best of equipment, eye surgeries were complex.
By the time we had arrived at the rendezvous Frig was awake. He questioned me about what had happened. I told him of the concussion he had received due to the ion bolt strike and of the lacerations due to the thousand tiny shards of mirror. His face was badly swollen; he had not been able to open his eyes since regaining consciousness an hour before. Our world and our current existence was not very friendly to the blind. I began to wonder if accommodations would have to be made.